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GALVESTON, Texas – Get into the holiday spirit this season with magical Christmas attractions at Moody Gardens.

Santa and two of his top elves parachuted down from the North Pole, Saturday to open the highly anticipated Festival of Lights and ICE LAND.

St. Nick high-fived his way through the large festive crowd and created everlasting memories.

“He jumped down from the sky and shook my hand,” 4 year old Peyton Blackwell, said.

Many young Believers waited patiently to reveal their Christmas list to Santa.

“ I’m going to ask Santa for a new bike,” said Ava Barryman.

At 6 p.m Santa flipped the giant electrical switch to turn on more than 1 million lights at the 16th annual Festival of Lights.

“Festival of Lights has become a well-established tradition for families over the years,” said John Zendt, Moody Gardens President and CEO. “It is always a treat to watch children’s faces light up when Santa arrives. It’s wonderful to know that this event provides the opportunity for families to be able to create special memories.”

The mile-long Festival of Lights trail has over 100 lights and animated displays making it one of eight holiday attractions at Moody Gardens for the holiday season.

Other attractions include ICE LAND: Ice Sculptures.

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ICE LAND features white-faced saki and cotton-top tamarin monkeys, beautiful birds, colorful butterflies, sloths, snakes and fish, along with towering trees and vines inside this frosty attraction. Everything – including Shivers Ice Bar – is carved from two million pounds of ice by members of the Harbin, China CAA Ruijing Ice Carving Team using just chainsaws and ice picks.

ICE LAND, along with Festival of Lights, the ice rink, Arctic Slide, holiday 3D films, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 4D and more will offer a unique holiday experience Nov. 11-Jan. 7, 2018 as Galveston makes its transition into the Winter Wonder Island.